On Sunday, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 42nd “Maan Ki Baat” address, Ahmed Ali, an 82-year-old rickshaw puller from Assam was featured. The reason being – he has opened nine schools by spending money from his personal savings.

Ahmed Ali, the 82-year-old rickshaw-puller from Karimganj district, opened nine schools in Madhurband village of Patharkandi with his personal earnings. By mentioning Ali in his monthly address to the nation, the PM set off a sense of festivity in the remote village, close to the Bangladesh border.

What did the Prime Minister say?

Ali’s efforts are symbolic of the willpower that our countrymen have, said PM Narendra Modi on Sunday. “When I got to read in your letters how a rickshaw-puller from Karimganj in Assam, Ahmed Ali, has built nine schools for underprivileged children, it gave me a glimpse into the nation’s willpower,” the PM said as reported by The Times Of India.

While listening to the programme along with his wife, three sons and some relatives, Ahmed was delighted that his name was featured in the address. “I began my work by the wish of Allah and achieved some success by means of blessings from locals,” said Ali, a school dropout himself.

How did he build all those schools?

He first started building a school in 1978. He sold a piece of land that he had and collected some money from villagers and established a lower primary school. Ali had 36 bighas of land and he sold off 32 bighas for the purpose of building schools. He did the same thing again and again and established schools in Madhurband and nearby villages – three lower primary schools, five upper primary schools and one high school.

“I have a dream to establish at least 10 schools in my locality. I want to now set up a junior college without delay so that no student from a poor family has to abandon studies after passing out of Class 10,” Ali said.

“I had dropped out of school owing to poverty. It pained me. I don’t want to see dropouts from poor families anymore. It is a sin for anybody to not be educated. I feel joy when I see that boys and girls from the village have been attending school,” said Ali.

Another thing to be noted is that only one of the nine schools carry his name, that too after repeated requests from villagers.

The Logical Indian community appreciates the gesture taken by Ahmed and hopes that his vision is carried forward by everyone.